What else could 200 calories get you?

Published 11:39 am, Friday, August 21, 2015

The pages of American newspapers for years have screamed the ills of obesity, from its toll on the economy to its devastating effects on our bodies.

But a more recent headline bucked the trend: Americans are finally eating fewer calories.

The New York Times story - which also ran in the Houston Chronicle - explained that calorie consumption peaked in 2003, and for the first time in the 40 years that federal researchers have kept track, the nation is in a sustained dietary cutback across most major demographic groups.

It's long been reported that one-third of U.S. adults are obese, another third are overweight. Obesity puts us at increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer, among a host of other health problems.

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Perhaps the strongest effort of anti-obesity public health initiatives cited in the story was the focus on soft drinks. It's estimated that we're now drinking 25 percent less full-calorie soda than we did in the late 1990s.

This begs a look at sodas: How many calories are in a can of full-sugar soda, and how much of something else could you eat for the same number? And let's agree that the "something else" is something that's better for you.

The answer is that 16 ounces of soda have about 200 calories. Here are examples of better ways to spend your 200 calories.

Sodas: A 16-ounce, full-sugar soda has about 200 calories, 52 grams of carbohydrates (all of them sugar), plus 90 mg of sodium. (Whether it's Pepsi, Coke, Dr Pepper or any other full-sugar soda, the calorie count varies only slightly.)

Kale: 6 cups. Not that you could actually eat this much, but in six cups you'll get 201 calories, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fat, 173 mg of sodium, 13 grams of protein and a whopping 1,800 mg of potassium (which helps lower blood pressure).

Peaches: 4 small, raw peaches have 204 calories. They are mostly carbohydrate (2 grams of fiber and 11 grams of sugar), with 1 gram of protein and 247 mg of potassium.

Peanut butter (creamy or crunchy): Two tablespoons of peanut butter will have 190 calories, with 16 grams of fat, 8 grams of carbohydrates (2 of them fiber) and 7 grams of protein. (Try it on that whole grain bread.)

Pasta: In any shape or size, a cup of pasta has 182 calories. You'll get nearly 7 grams of protein and a gram of fat, but it's mostly carbohydrate, 35 grams (2 grams of fiber). Whole wheat pasta has almost as many calories but comes with 4 grams of fiber.